The song of the dragon
by Dark Lord Gogen
Summary: Its about a year or so after the defeat of Cell and a terrible storm brews out of nowhere and Goku disappears. Can Gohan and the rest of the Z fighters rescue him from this new world threat or will the citizens of earth become soulless slaves?
1. Chapter 1

The odor was suffocating and tears started to burn his eyes. He covered his mouth with his sleeve, coughing violently into it. His nostrils burned and his breathing quickly became ragged. He swore that he would perish before he finished this deed. His commander at arms stood behind him smacking the flat of her hand with a wooden rolling pin.

"But Chi-Chi, I hate onions, why do I have to chop them?" He whined loudly. She swung the pin and cracked him hard on the top of his skull, the pin fit perfectly between two of the many tufts of black hair that jutted out from his scalp.

"Just chop the onions, Goku, and when you are done, you can go play with Krillen or whatever it is you would rather do." Chi-Chi replied, tucking a strand of black hair behind her ear. Goku whimpered loudly and continued to chop the onions. Chi-Chi sauntered to the other side of the room where her son, Gohan was sitting at the dining room table, finishing up his math homework, his tongue stuck comically between his lips as he worked out the math problem. Thunder shook the small house as a worthy sea storm threatened the small island. Goku wiped the knife off on his orange pants and set it down next to the freshly chopped onions.

"I'm finished, Chi-Chi, and now it's raining, but that's okay, Krillen and I were going over to the lookout anyway, there's no way it's raining there!" Goku exclaimed, Chi-Chi examined Goku's work. She was impressed with his dice job as each piece was quite a bit smaller than the tip of her pinky. A fresh roll of thunder shook the house and lightning illuminated the dark windows. Goku charged for the front door and opened it, rain splattered the front of him and the wind threatened to blow the door shut again, a streak of lightening pounded the ground in front of him, the smell of scorched earth and ozone filled the small house.

"Maybe that's not such a good idea, Dad." Gohan said, scratching the back of his head nervously. Three rapid-fire successions of lightning struck the ground in front of the door and the wind blew it shut. Goku laughed nervously, and slumped his shoulders in defeat and sat down at the kitchen table.

"You're right, son. This storm is terrible!" He shouted over another roll of thunder. The lights in the house suddenly went out, plunging the kitchen into darkness. Thunder continued to rock the house and lightning pounded the ground around the house, the smell of ozone and scorched earth quickly overwhelmed the onion smell. A point of light appeared across the room and then blossomed into a full-fledged flame. Chi-Chi raised the candle high above her head to find Goku and Gohan clutching each other underneath the table.

"C'mon boys, out from under the table." Chi-Chi sighed, concern mixed with exasperation etched across her otherwise beautiful face. "I thought you were supposed to be big strong men, not baby boys." Chi-Chi said. She was so tired of taking care of two babies, especially with another one on the way. How was she ever going to teach Goku to grow up? He was the strongest fighter in the universe but the biggest baby on the planet. And probably would be on another planet if he traveled in space again, like he'd done a few years ago. She grumbled in her own mind about that even to this day. The boys emerged slowly from beneath the table and the sky cracked its whip again, making the windows rattle loudly. The lights suddenly flashed back to life, Goku shrieked as the blender kicked on, the racket drowning out the storm for just the moment it took Chi-Chi to turn the contraption off. The storm subsided almost as quickly as it had arised, only the gentle tapitty tap of rain against the windowsill proving that it had been there. There was also of course, the lingering smell of ozone and seared dirt that was quickly dissipating.

Gohan took his place back at the table. He was supposed to go do some work with Piccolo today. Piccolo was going to teach him how to channel his Ki into a tight beam rather than an explosive ball or a wave, but he couldn't do that with math homework to do, as his mother pointed out so enthusiastically. Gohan looked up as Goku rushed for the door.

"Bye Gohan, by Chi-Chi, I'll be back before dinner!" He said, throwing open the door and taking off from the doorway causing a vase to topple off the door stand. Chi-Chi caught it lazily and set it up on the stand again.

"Bye, Dad! See you later!" Gohan shouted after him. He returned to his math problem. "So two plus X minus X squared. So this factors out to this…" Gohan trailed off as a loud whistling noise caught his ear, followed abruptly by a muffled thud.

"What was that?" Chi-Chi asked. Gohan didn't answer. "Well, it must have been that storm." A gust of wind nearly took her off her feet and when she looked up, Gohan was gone and the front door was swinging in the breeze.

"SON GOHAN! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. Gohan was probably way out of earshot by now. She growled in frustration as the vase shattered on the floor. "That boy has got to learn priorities. Family comes before Homework, and homework before fighting!" she swung her rolling pin angrily, smashing her dining room table in half.

The wind whistled in his ears as he flew at top speed in the direction the thud cam from. "Please let him be okay, please let him be okay." Gohan repeated. His father's energy signature had spiked and then all but disappeared just before the thud. Little did Gohan know that this would be the beginning of the most difficult struggle of his young life.


	2. Chapter 2

Krillen tapped his toes impatiently on the lookout, the tiles echoing the impatience that Krillen exuded. Mr. Popo, a freed genie that looked after the sylvan landscape of the mile high lookout, stood next to Krillen chuckling playfully at a monarch butterfly that was circling his head.

"Where is he?!" Krillen asked aloud. His bald head glistening with sweat from his recent workout. Goku was supposed to have been at that workout with him, but hadn't shown. It wasn't like Goku to be on time, but to be this late was out of the question.

"I got you!" Mr. Popo said, clapping his chubby black hands together. Krillen sighed.

"Krillen!" A young man's voice rang in his head. "Goku's in trouble!" Krillen shook his head in disappointment, floating into the air slowly.

"Thanks, Dende, I knew nothing but trouble would have kept him from being here like that." Krillen responded aloud to the voice in his head. Dende was a namek who had taken over the position of Guardian of Earth when Piccolo had fused with Kami. Dende resided on the lookout so he could do just that, keep a look out over the earth. Krillen was off like a shot, leaving behind a fading yellow ki trail. Krillen flew gracefully, enjoying the wind in his face for a few moments. He came to a hovering rest over a beach; Goku's island was only a stone's throw away from the sand. A large crater had been dug into the ground beneath Krillen and he guessed that Goku had hit the ground, and hard. Goku, however was nowhere to be found and as Krillen floated over the crater, scanning with both with his eyes and his feelings, he sensed Gohan floating around the perimeter of the crater about a quarter mile to the north and took off. Gohan must have sensed Krillen's approach, because he stopped moving just as Krillen came upon him. Gohan's eyes were frantically searching the horizon, even while Krillen was quizzing him on what had happened.

"I don't know!" Gohan expressed for the fourth time after Krillen had asked him who had done this. "I felt his energy spike and then it all but disappeared and then there was the thud and I left the house!" Gohan finished, tears now streaming down his face. Krillen patted him gently on the head. Although both Krillen and Gohan had seen Goku killed a few times, the thought of his death still stung. They of course knew that there was no way Goku was going anywhere without a fight, unless his assailant had caught him by surprise. Nobody could have taken out Goku that easily unless they had. The two circled the crater a few more times, and when neither fighter sensed or saw the saiyan, they gave up and headed for the lookout to get Dende's help.

* * *

The building exploded in a hail of rubble and the top few floors crashed to the road beneath. People scattered as a large aluminum billboard plummeted to the sidewalk.

"HERCULE! HERCULE!! HERCULE!! HERCULE!!" A large crowd of spectators chanted as a large hairy man struck a pose in front of them.

"Haha!" He said, changing poses "He don't stand a chance! I can take him! AH HA!" He cried raising both hands in a pair of peace signs. The crowd exploded in a fit of screams and catcalls. Several signs sporting "MARRY ME HERCULE" bounced above the sea of people. The man gulped visibly and jumped down from his podium, his cape flaring up behind him. He signaled the pyrotechnician who pressed a button on his remote control and put his fingers in his ears. A barrage of fireworks exploded behind him, throwing Hercule to the street on his face. He stood, scratched the back of his head and yelled something about being an incapable doofus to the pyrotechnician.

Hercule strolled out into the deserted street, and stopped right in the center.

"Come on out and pick on someone your own size! HAHA!" Something glowing bright yellow landed hard on the street a couple of hundred yards in front of him causing a shockwave in the earth only a few seconds later. "Well, come on then!" Hercule shouted, after standing there a few moments, just slightly less confident. The bright yellow thing took off, heading straight towards him. Hercule stared, his eyes becoming wider as it loomed closer and closer. He saw bright blonde hair, blue-green eyes, and purple haze, pulsating just around the edges of its form. Hercule's knees began to knock together and just as it was about to hit him with a punch square to his jaw, it was knocked out of the way by a giant green blur. Hercule fell to his back, suddenly recognizing the bright yellow thing.

"You're supposed to be dead!" He shouted, "I watched Cell destroy you last year!" Hercule yelled. The giant green blur turned out to be none other than the other green alien that had fought against Cell last year. And Blondie, the one that was supposed to be dead, had fought on the same side! What was going on here?

"Get out of here!" Piccolo shouted from his hand lock with Goku. Goku raised a knee, smashing Piccolo hard in the face. Piccolo stumbled backward and then kicked off into flight, throwing a couple of charged ki balls at Goku to get his attention. Goku kicked off, chasing Piccolo into the sky and Piccolo took off in a burst of energy. The two flew toward the beach where Goku had initially been lost and Piccolo turned in the air, threw a barrage of explosive ki blasts at Goku and disappeared. Goku came to a dead stop hovering above the crater that he himself had made no more than an hour ago. Piccolo flattened himself against the broad side of a huge boulder, catching his breath after that quick sprint. His green chest heaved and he wiped the sweat dripping from beneath his turban off his forehead. This wasn't going to be an easy battle, especially with his weighted clothes on. Piccolo considered, only for a moment, keeping his weights on but quickly pushed the thought from his mind, knowing that he had to end this quickly and the only way to do that would be to come out fighting with everything he had. His turban hit the ground with a soft thud, the white cape on his back unclipped from the front and landed behind him with a slightly heavier thud. Piccolo took a deep breath, stepped quickly from behind the boulder and threw a barrage of ki balls to where his old comrade had just been. Hundreds of explosions rang out in the sky, filling it with plumes of smoke, billowing away with the wind. Piccolo stopped his onslaught, breathing hard and waiting for the smoke to clear. His jaw dropped when he saw that Goku was no longer there. He turned his head just in time to take a well-placed punch to the face. Piccolo was launched painfully through the boulder he had just been hiding behind and landed in a heap after sliding several yards through the dirt and sand. Piccolo stood slowly, clutching his arm. His entire body heaved as Goku appeared behind him and elbowed him in the back so hard that he went flying into the boulder slumping slowly to the ground where he lay for just a moment before attempting to stand back up again. Goku followed up by dropping into a low stance and cupping his hands at his waist, willing a concentrated ball of energy to form between his hands.

"Kamehame," Goku dropped slightly lower and his arm muscles rippled as he prepared to throw the energy at Piccolo.

"Goku, no!" Piccolo said, now on his feet, raising a hand in protest.

"He won't listen to you, he works for me now," A voice sounding strangely like the meow of a large cat said from behind him. Piccolo turned to see whom his surprise assailant was, grimacing in pain. A tall man loomed down at him from the top of the boulder, his tawny hair cascading in puffy waves down his back. A tail of the same color fur meandered lazily behind him and he leaned heavily on a staff with symbols and pictures of people carved on it. The staff was capped with a large purple gem that glowed with a similar haze to the one that surrounded Goku. "And soon, you will too!" He cackled. "I am Chui, ruler of the universe! Finish him, Goku!" Piccolo turned.

"NO!" He screamed just as Goku finished the last syllable and let his energy wave fly.

"HAAAAAA!" Goku finished, thrusting his hands forward. A wave of energy bolted toward Piccolo faster than he could move out of the way and he was slammed painfully against the boulder with Chui laughing maniacally above him. Wave after wave of energy slammed him again and again against the boulder and just as the barrier of rock holding him back was about to give, Goku stopped his attack and Piccolo landed in a heap in the sand. Chui raised his staff over his head and a purple beam of light emanated from the jewel surrounded Piccolo and with a painful scream and a popping noise, Piccolo was gone without evidence of his existence except for the battle and his memory. Goku's form dissolved into a mist, floating back towards Chui and absorbing into the glowing purple jewel, he laughed maniacally and took off into the air, flying quickly toward South City.


End file.
